Over 700 New Metallica Riffs- Roger Daltrey Sought American Idol Gig?- Danzig Let Singer To Hit Him?- Descendents Disappoint- Def Leppard- Converge Dropdead- more

On this day in 2006, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was released from a hospital in New Zealand after suffering a mild concussion when he fell out of a coconut tree while on holiday in Fiji. He was airlifted to Auckland's Ascot Hospital for observation, where he underwent a brain scan. Find out what else happened on this date in music history here

Slipknot To Carry On With or Without Corey Taylor

(Gibson) Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison told the Artisan News Service that the band will proceed "with or without" singer Corey Taylor, who is reticent to return to the road after the death of bassist Paul Gray last May.

At the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles last week, Jordison told reporters, "As far as I'm concerned, Slipknot's my baby and I have a bunch of [new] songs written. And I'm in rehearsal right now with all the guys and it's completely on fire. Donnie's [Steele, a former Slipknot bassist who soon will act as the band's touring bassist] doing a great job. And as far as Slipknot's concerned, it'll always exist – with [Corey] or without him. So that's it."

Slipknot soon will hit a bevy of European festivals, about which Jordison says, "Honestly, those are gonna be some of the most amazing shows. And I think certain people will wise up after that." In December, Taylor told Artisan News Service that touring without Gray was "a big decision."

"There's still a part of me that's kind of on the fence about it," Taylor said. "It all comes down to the band at the end of the day and how we handle it. And if we can come together as men and handle it the right way and do it for the right reasons – do it for the fans, do it for the family – it could be the first of baby steps to see what happens in the future. The wonderful thing and the worst thing about this band is that there's no other band like Slipknot, so we handle things the way we handle it." more on this story

Feuds Among The Big 4 Are Dead

(Gibson) Members of The Big 4, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, recently spoke to Spin.com about the contrast between the old days and today. Reports of feuds between the bands were common in the '90s, although the guys now think they were blown out of proportion.

"Listen, the first word that comes to mind is 'exaggerated.' Of course there was competition, of course we were all keeping close tabs on what everybody else was doing, of course when you're 25 years old you wanna be better than the next guy," Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said. "But, through it, no matter what the press was writing about Metallica and Megadeth, me and [Dave Mustaine] would hang out. The things we shared were greater than the things we differed on... Underneath all the posturing, there was always a genuine respect and genuine admiration. Maybe a slight jealousy in some cases, which is fine. We're not talking about Oasis fistfights."

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian said he wishes everyone could have grown up a little bit faster. "It's just too bad things couldn't have been squashed at a much earlier date," he said. "When you're younger – duh – you don't really have the tools to deal with certain things in your life." more on this story

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne Face More Tax Trouble

(hennemusic) For the second time recently, the IRS have filed a tax lien against Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne.

TMZ reports the couple still owes $357,070.62 in unpaid federal income taxes from 2007.

The new filing comes on the heels of a $1.7 million lien filed against the family earlier this month...bringing their grand total of debt just over $2 mil. more on this story

Bon Jovi Recruit Triumph Guitarist To Replace Richie Sambora

(Rock News Desk) Bon Jovi played their first show without Richie Sambora this weekend and frontman Jon Bon Jovi only mentioned the troubled guitarist briefly during their encore.

The band announced on Friday that their North American and European tour would go ahead without Sambora, who's checked into rehab to deal with alcohol issues.

Bon Jovi hit the stage at the New Orleans Jazz Festival on Saturday evening with former Triumph guitarist and session man Phil X on lead guitar, with no mention made of Sambora's absence until near the end of their performance. As they launched into a rendition of Livin' on a Prayer, Bon Jovi told the crowd: "I'm sending this out to our brother Richie." more on this story

AC/DC Classic Coming To Blu-Ray and DVD

AC/DC's Let There Be Rock is set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 7th.

The release features lead singer Bon Scott's final filmed live concert for the first time fully remastered with all 13 song performances including classics such as "Whole Lotta Rosie", "High Voltage", "Highway To Hell", and the epic anthem "Let There Be Rock".

The Collector's Edition, limited at only 90k copies, comes in a collectible steel case, includes keepsake premium items and contains over an hour of newly added bonus features. Celebrity interviews include Rick Allen (Def Leppard), Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), The Donnas, Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead) and more. more on this story

Five Finger Death Punch Have Fired Snell

(Rock News Desk) Five Finger Death Punch fired bassist Matt Snell in December, guitarist Zoltan Bathory has confirmed. His statement puts to an end weeks of speculation over the band's status after it was suggested they were looking for a new member.

Earlier this week their management said a flier purporting to advertise auditions was a fake, but didn't deny the auditions themselves had taken place.

Now Bathory has confirmed Snell is out – but he's not allowed to explain why. The guitarist says: "To put this to sleep, I'll say this: yes, Matt was fired. We let him go a long time ago, back in December. more on this story

Keith Richards Recording Solo?

(Gibson) Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has been recording new material in New York City, according to several sources.

New York music site SonicScoop.com reports that Richards has been working out of Manhattan's Germano Studios with producer Steve Jordan and engineer Dave O'Donnell (both of whom have won Grammys for their work with artists like Eric Clapton and John Mayer).

There's no word from Richards on whether or not talk of his logging studio time is true, nor whether the recordings would be for The Rolling Stones or for a solo project. It's worth noting though that Richards has worked extensively with Jordan on previous projects with his solo band Keith Richards & The X-pensive Winos. more on this story

Foo Fighters Documentary Coming to DVD and Blu-ray

(Gibson) Earlier this month the Foo Fighters debuted their new documentary, Back and Forth, in movie theaters and on VH1, VH1 Classic and Paladia. Now that same career-spanning movie (with extra footage) will be released on DVD and online.

Back and Forth, directed by Academy Award-winning director James Moll, will hit iTunes on June 7 and DVD and Blu-ray on June 14, according to a press release. The film will include 35 minutes of bonus footage and deleted scenes.

The film follows Dave Grohl and company from the breakup of Nirvana through the early stages of Foo Fighters to the sessions for the band's new album, Wasting Light. Speaking of Wasting Light, the album went to #1 in 12 different countries, according to ClashMusic.com. The band also were recently announced as one of the headliners of this year's Lollapalooza in Chicago.

Iron Maiden's Dickinson Shrugs Off Unimportant Grammy and Rolling Stone Cover

(Rock AAA) Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson says that he doesn't give a damn that his band have been overlooked by the mainstream media over the years and dispels the myth that their fans only turn up for the "classics" at their shows.

Speaking to Argentinean website Vorterix.com he said that Maiden has always cared more about their fans than what the media think and dismissed mascot Eddie's appearance on the cover of the Argentine edition of Rolling Stone Magazine.

"Do I care? No! What's bigger? More magazine covers or being bigger in the heart of your fans? To me it's much more important that we stay close to our fans. We got a Grammy this year – I think it's 'cos we're still alive. If they were going to give us a Grammy they should have given us one about 1986, but they gave it to Jethro Tull, and it took another 20 years more on this story

Rudy Sarzo Remembers Randy Rhoads

(Gibson) Rudy Sarzo has been at the forefront of classic metal since the early '80s. The Cuban-born bassist rose to prominence with Quiet Riot before moving on to Ozzy Osbourne's group with bandmate Randy Rhoads. After Rhoads' tragic death, Sarzo went back to Quiet Riot, just in time for the band to explode with the release of the Metal Health album. He finished the '80s with Whitesnake and has since played with the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen, Dio, Blue Öyster Cult and Tim "Ripper" Owens, among others.

Sarzo spoke recently with NJ.com about coming to terms with his dear friend Rhoads dying in the crash of a plane that clipped the tour bus in which Sarzo, Osbourne and others were sleeping. "We all deal with grief in different ways," he said. "You're grieving and you learn to live with the passing of your friend – somebody who I owe my career to, someone who saved our lives by turning the plane from actually completely crashing into the bus where we were sleeping, and just clipping the bus instead."

After the accident, Osbourne's tour continued, willed forward (according to Sarzo) by Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne. "She was afraid that if she pulled the tour, there was a good chance Ozzy would hurt himself, either with drink or drugs," he said. "The reason I left Ozzy was only, only because it was so painful to go onstage and be a member of Ozzy's band within 10 days of the crash." more on this story

Big 4: Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax Announce 2nd U.S. Show

This story broke on Friday after the Day in Rock was published. For those that missed the update, here it is: Metallica hinted at it in interviews this week but now it is official: There is at least one more U.S. Big 4 show officially confirmed. Metallica had the following to say about it:

A huge thanks to everyone who came out to the desert this past weekend . . . we felt the enormous love and support, so we just had to find a way to make one more Big 4 show in the States happen. Enter New York . . . that's right, the Big 4 of Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, and 'Tallica will be in the new version of the famed Yankee Stadium on September 14, 2011!

We can't wait for a night in the Bronx as our second American show and for those of you who love fun facts, this will also be the second live music event hosted at the new ballpark. more on this story

Dream Theater Announce New Drummer

(Gibson) Dream Theater have announced that their new drummer will be Mike Mangini. He is known for his work with Steve Vai, Extreme, Annihilator and Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie. He's also held five World's Fastest Drummer records.

"It took my brain a minute just to assemble what was going on," Mangini said about the emotional conversation in which he was welcomed into the band.

"The Spirit Carries On" series featured the prog metal giants auditioning seven potential replacements for Portnoy. The drummers in contention were Aquiles Priester (Angra, Paul Di'Anno), Peter Wildoer (Darkane), Virgil Donati (Planet X, Seven the Hardway), Derek Roddy (Hate Eternal, Nile, Today is the Day), Thomas Lang (John Wetton, Robert Fripp, Glenn Hughes), Marco Minnemann (Kreator, Necrophagist, Ephel Duath, Joe Satriani) and Mangini. more on this story

Guns N' Bumbleballs

(Rock AAA) Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal has compared his struggles with juggling his role in the band with his own solo career like having a massive swollen testicle and one regular sized ball and it makes his life 'challenging.'

The axeman admits he has to keep on his toes and by the phone if GNR come calling but he jokes that when gets leave from the infamous rockers he 'runs like the wind.' On his balancing act Thal told Alternative Matter.net: "It's like having a testicular problem. You've got two balls and one of them of is humongous and you have to figure how to walk with that. It's basically having one big ball and a bunch of other smaller balls, so walking becomes very difficult.

"It's a challenge sometimes with how to budget time and be in multiple places at once without an army of clones. It's not easy. When Guns needs me I'm there and when my time is free I run like the wind, haha." more on this story

Portugal. The Man Set New Album Release

Atlantic Records have set a July 19th release date for Portugal. The Man's label debut "In The Mountain In The Cloud."

The effort was produced by John Hill (Santigold, M.I.A.) with co-production from PTM lead singer/guitarist/songwriter John Gourley and longtime band producer Casey Bates, and mixed by Grammy Award winner Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Jeff Buckley).

Portugal. The Man kicked off their North American tour on Friday in their hometown of Portland, Oregon. The trek will then make stops across the continent, culminating at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee on June 11th and Lollapalooza. more on this story

Iggy and The Beatles

(Gibson) It looks like Iggy Pop fans won't have a shortage of new material from the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer for quite some time. For one, he's working on a new solo album that will follow-up his jazz-inspired 2009 record, Preliminaries. Pop told Billboard.com that the record will be "mostly ballads" written by other people, including "Michelle" by The Beatles and "Everybody's Talkin'" by Fred Neil.

He said he's also working on a new Stooges album with guitarist James Williamson. The songs are "halfway between Raw Power and Kill City," according to the singer.

" [We have] about eight things right now that are... sort of complete songs," he said. "Maybe some of them need to be more complete or some of them need to be forgotten. And then some of them... just flow right along." more on this story

U2 Star Wins Malibu Battle

(Gibson) U2's The Edge has moved forward in his mission to build a housing development in Malibu. According to the Daily Express, the Irish rock superstar has been fighting since 2006 to win planning approval to build a housing community against the wishes of some local residents who feared the environmental implications of such a development.

But this time around, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy removed their opposition and will now work with The Edge on the development.

The Edge told the Los Angeles Times, "The property owners are proud of what they've accomplished with the conservancy, and they look forward to continuing to work with the Malibu community and other stakeholders." more on this story

Zakk Goes Wylde on TV for Lenny Kravitz

(Rock AAA) A week after he shocked fans by rocking the American Idol stage with contestant James Durbin, guitarist Zakk Wylde was spreading the rock gospel some more with an appearance on Lopez Tonight.

Wylde sat in with the show's house band, Michael Bearden & The Ese Vatos, throughout Wednesday's program, playing in and out of commercial breaks.

Zakk also stepped up for a full version of Lenny Kravitz' "Are You Gonna Go My Way." Check out video here

Wanna Own John Lennon's Home Studio Equipment?

(hennemusic) Beatles and recording enthusiasts will be thrilled to hear that microphones and equipment from John Lennon's home studio are to be sold at an upcoming auction.

The BBC reports the former Beatle had the equipment installed at his Georgian manor house estate at Tittenhurst Park, near Ascot, in 1970, and was used to record the "Plastic Ono Band" and "Imagine" albums.

Lennon was joined by his wife Yoko Ono and fellow Beatles members Ringo Starr and George Harrison in using the microphones during recording sessions. more on this story

Chris Cornell Reflects on Solo Tour

(Gibson) Heading into the last week of his highly touted solo tour, Chris Cornell reflected on the experience with Spinner.com.

Even with a new Soundgarden album in the works—the group's first studio set in 15 years—Cornell still found value in standing alone in front of an audience armed only with an acoustic guitar.

"It couldn't be further from what I would do in Soundgarden," Cornell said. "The bottom line is that's what's interesting to me about it and that's what's exciting about it. I can do this onstage with a band and amps and volume and aggression. I got that, no problem. But if I can't just walk in a room, pick up and instrument and entertain people, then how much of a musician am I really?" more on this story

20th Anniversary of the Beginning of Nirvana's Nevermind

On this day in 1991, Nirvana entered Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California with producer Butch Vig and a budget of $65,000 to record their album Nevermind. Gibson takes a look back: Nearly 20 years after its release, the impact of Nirvana's groundbreaking album Nevermind still reverberates in the music industry. It can be strongly argued that it is the single-most influential album in the history of recorded music. Hyperbole? Not even remotely, not when you consider just how suddenly the paradigm of popular rock music that had remained relatively static from the mid-'80s through very early '90s, was shattered by an album – in particular, a song – from a little-known alternative band from Seattle.

Formed by singer-songwriter-guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic, Nirvana released their debut album Bleach in 1989 on the indie Sub Pop label. Their drummer at the time, Chad Channing, was replaced in 1990 by former Scream drummer and future Foo Fighters frontman, Dave Grohl. Cobain and Novoselic had seen Grohl perform at a Scream show, and they were more than impressed.

At the time, Cobain had been growing weary of the heavier rock sound so prevalent in the grunge scene in Seattle. He'd been listening to groups like R.E.M. and the Pixies, and his writing was evolving as he experimented with infusing more melody into his songs. In 1990 Nirvana released the single "Sliver," which Cobain later remarked "was like a statement in a way. I had to write a pop song and release it on a single to prepare people for the next record. I wanted to write more songs like that." more on this story

New York Doll, Beastie Boy and More Tribute The Runaways

(Gibson) More than 30 music acts have lined up to tip their caps to the music of The Runaways – the legendary all-female punk-pop group, according to KikAxeMusic.com. The '70s band had a hit with "Cherry Bomb" and included Cherie Currie, Lita Ford and Joan Jett.

The Donnas, The Dandy Warhols, Kittie, Shonen Knife and the New York Dolls' David Johansen are among the artists who contributed to Take It or Leave It: A Tribute to the Queens of Noise: The Runaways.

The compilation also features a collaboration between Peaches, Beastie Boy Ad-Rock and his wife (and Le Tigre singer) Kathleen Hanna. The album also features tracks by former Runaways members Currie and Sandy West.
The two-CD set will be available June 7 and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the American Institute for Cancer Research. more on this story

Voivod's Warriors Of Ice Coming in May

Sonic Unyon Metal have announced a June 21, 2011 release date for Voivod's new live album, Warriors Of Ice. Here is the background info:

Late in 2009, Voivod released their live Tatsumaki DVD, filmed the previous fall when they toured Japan for the first time ever. To celebrate its release of the DVD, Voivod performed in front of a sold-out crowd on December 12th, 2009 at Club Soda in their adopted hometown of Montreal, Quebec. It was their first headlining show in the city of Montreal in more than ten years and it was celebrated in grand style. It was a fitting end to a busy year that saw them named Metal Band Of The Year at the 2010 Indie Awards in Canada.

The show was recorded for posterity and is now being released as the fifteen-track Warriors Of Ice, the first official Voivod live album to feature original band members Denis 'Snake' Belanger on vocals and bassist Jean-Yves 'Blacky' Theriault, as well as new guitarist Dan "Chewy" Mongrain. more on this story

3 Inches Of Blood Kick Off Tour and Announce Limited Edition 7 Inch

3 Inches Of Blood kick off their Canadian tour tonight with support coming from Cancer Bats for most of the run.

3 Inches Of Blood have announced the release of a new 7-inch, called 'Anthems for the Victorious,' this week. You can get it here

The limited edition orange vinyl features two new songs from the band: 1. "Lords of Change" 2. "Strength of the Grave" more on this story

How R.E.M. Ended Up Recording With Eddie Vedder and Patti Smith

(Gibson) Over the years, R.E.M. have invited a handful of guests to perform on their albums, from The B-52s' Kate Pierson to rapper KRS-One to Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. On the group's latest effort, Collapse Into Now, the band have enlisted two A-listers to contribute – Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and punk legend Patti Smith.

Vedder's contribution to the song "It Happened Today" was completely unplanned, according to guitarist Peter Buck. Buck told Goldmine, "Eddie actually just came to the studio to listen to the record. I think Michael suggested, 'Hey, you want to sing on something?' And he did!"

Hooking up with Smith, however, was a bit more work. "We wanted Patti, when she was in Berlin, to come by the studio," Buck said. "But their bus came in at four, they did the show, and the bus left at one in the morning, so she didn't have time. But we kept talking about it; we just thought it'd be great to have Patti on the record. Patti's someone that, for Michael [Stipe] and I, particularly, kind of kickstarted the '70s, and the new music we were listening to then, and it's been a huge influence on us. We have worked with her in the past, but it's just a thrill to write a song with her and have her on a record. We just sit there not believing that it's occurring while it's occurring." more on this story

Ravenland Find Their New Voice

(Submitted) Ravenland have announced Tatiana Berke as their new female vocalist. Berke, 28, was born in São Paulo and is involved with music since she was 15 years old, singing with cover bands and projects like Melodic Stanzas (The Gathering official tribute band), Envoid, and Suzan's Leaf.

After being away from the scene for 3 years, she is back as one of Ravenland's members, sharing vocals with Dewindson Wolfheart.

About the new line-up Dewindson comments: "Her debut with us happened in March, in the recordings of "Memories"! EP, which will be released soon. She will bring something new to our sound. Right now she is in Europe in a interview with Ravenheart Music and making contacts for promotion of the EP." more on this story

American Idol James Durbin Can Even Make Carole King Rock

(hennemusic) The Top 6 finalists performed material from the songbook of Carole King on this week's edition of American Idol. Rocker James Durbin took on "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?," which brought rave reviews from the judges.

"I really liked the beginning of that," said Steven Tyler. "You had me sold on it right at the beginning – when you didn't play along with it – it was so beautiful. [When] people download that tonight – they're gonna save that piece, right there."

"You are going to be the star of the night with that one," commented Jennifer Lopez. "It was amazing. When I think back - of every single week since we started the Top 13 - James has had a strong week, every single week. He has not blown one week. We talk about consistency on this show, and that's what's gonna win it." more on this story

. Hot In The City: Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers - Unida Cantina

Clyne and his mates have for years been one of the southwests favorite party bands, always packing in the crowds at live performances in Arizona and occasionally taking their musical fiesta south of the border for a big blow-out in Mexico - Read the full Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers - Unida Cantina review